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The BOMB

Welcome to the BOMB.

The BlogOf the"Mother"of Bandit.

Bandit is my Hairless Chinese Crested--he's the "normal" one. I, on the other hand, am unrepentantly "pet-crazy." You know the type--the spinster who lives in the haunted house three blocks over with 72 cats...okay, so I don't have 72 cats, and my house isn't haunted--but my dogs wardrobe is better than mine! Need I say more? :~)

I've never been consistant at journaling, so the timing of my blogs will be sporadic at best. I just hope they are as entertaining to you as they are to me; however, be forewarned: Most of my blogs will be about The BaldOne. In spite of his Don King "do," I think he's just as cute as any of the Brothers B!

Now, if I can just remember not to get him wet--or feed him after midnight...

About Me

My bags are packed and I'm always ready to seek out an adventure with Bandit and Moggy in tow. Bandit is my thirteen year old Chinese Crested, who I frequently call The Bald One or The BaldOne Boy (like he was one of the Baldwin Brothers). Moggy’s full name is Pip-Moggy. He’s my two year old gansta-resuce kitty. I couldn’t decide between Pip (which are the spots on die and domino tiles) and Moggy (or Moggie when I mistakenly thought he was a she), so I combined the two. Moggy refers to the British term for "cat of unknown parentage .”
So in essence, I have an almost bald dog, and I’ve named my cat “Spot.”

Fun Stuff (I'm doing now or have done)

Artistic Attempts weekly (alternating between Painting With A Twist, That Art Place, and Peniot's Palette).

Bunko with the Belton Bunko Babes monthly.

Participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge.

Spades and Liverpool Rummy with the Spadetts weekly.

The Mighty Texas Dog Walk, Austin (fund raiser for Service Dogs, Inc--they train shelter dogs to be Service Dogs, then give them free of charge to people with disabilities.)

Thursday, April 23, 2015

T Is For Traveling With Bandit (A to Z Blogging Challenge 2015)

I love to travel—and I do so with my Chinese Crested, Bandit. Friends jokingly
say he's better traveled than they are—sadly, for some of them that's true
because they are waiting for the perfect time or travel partner. I realized a
long time ago, there was never going to be a perfect time. And by waiting on
travel partners that sometimes didn't come through, I was missing out on participating in activities I wanted to try or visiting locales that interested me. So, I packed a bag, gathered a few things for Bandit—toys,
food, treats, leash, medical records, contacts for Veterinarians and Boarding
facilities—just in case they might be needed, and we set off on our first
adventure. We've not stopped going places.

It takes advance planning when you travel with a dog, but it's
not difficult. Many places and activities are becoming pet-friendly. Even
5-star hotels that don't advertise as being pet friendly will bend rules. Not
always, but enough times that I now ask, rather than assume they won't.

The first non-local pet-friendly activity Bandit and I attended, was
the Barkus Parade in NOLA. Barkus is
the canine equivalent of Bacchus (on which my friends Husband, Father, and Brother-in-Law
all roll).Barkusis New Orleans only sanctioned dog parade
during Mardi Gras. It's also the most family-friendly French Quarter activity in which you can participate. We go every year.

Another annual long-distance pet-friendly activity Bandit and I attend
is the Atlanta Braves Bark in the Park baseball game. An entire section of
seating is reserved for dogs and their humans. Vendors hand out freebies. There
are opportunities to commemorate the event with caricature artists, professional
photographers, etc. Water dishes and misters abound. Staff bring ice to the
seats so pups don’t overheat. And our very first visit, Bandit and I made it on
the jumbotron both in candid screen shots, and for a game with prizes–I won a
trip to the Golden Moon Casino (part
of the Pearl River Resort)!We’ve been to Bark in the Park about five times
now, and Bandit usually gets a candid jumbotron shot or two.

On an East Coast trip we took the Portland MaineMail Ferryto theoutlying islands. It was an overcast day, but we had fun meeting the locals
commuting to their island homes. I have always dreamed of retiring in a
mountain cabin on a river in Maine—accessable only by helicopter; however,
island living accessible only by ferry would work.

For my 50th birthday, I met a friend in Branson Missouri.
Branson itself is not pet-friendly; however, I had a day before my friend
arrived, so I took Bandit to Fantastic
Caverns in Springfield Missouri—one of only 4 cavern jeep tours (I think in
the world, and the only one in the USA).
The cavern has an interesting history—discovered by a dog, they are very pet-friendly. The dog (I think a
Golden Retriever) and his person were out hunting, when the dog disappeared
behind a bush. On closer exploration, the guy found a small opening, and crawling
on hands and knees, he went in after his dog. He found a huge cavern with many
rooms. Evidentially, it had been home to a migratory or nocturnal tribe of
indigenous Indians—that, until the discovery of the cavern, no one knew traveled through, or lived in, the area. If that were not interesting enough, during
the prohibition, the largest cavern rooms were used as a honky-tonk and base
for a radio station. It was said thatsome of Country Westerns Legends sang there.

Not to ignore the West Cost, this past summer, Bandit and I completed an
epic two-week driving tour of the Western
half of The Mother Road, drove up the California
Coast Highway, and looped back to Texas by way of Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming—GPS girl didn’t want me traveling
the isolated route I had planned—and since my steering had gone out and we had
been stuck in a small town for two days waiting on parts and repairs— only to
get on the road again and have a tire blow out after I ran over a semi gator (steel belted tire tread)—in almost the same spot that the steering
had gone out—I didn’t fight her—we took the scenic tour from Utah to
Colorado by way of Wyoming.And as my
reward for following her directions, I found a great coat in a WyomingTravel Center. It was a good thing to, because
a cold front came in and I was freezing in my shorts. But I’m getting ahead of
myself.

Along Route 66 we found many
roadside attractions, that while not specifically pet-friendly, allowed me to
bring Bandit inside for photo ops. And one of my favorite lodging experiences
was staying at the WigWam Motel in
Holbrook Arizona. It was one motel of a chain of six back in Route 66 heyday. The last I read, there were three remaining WigWam Motels–Holbrook,
San Diego, and someplace in Kentucky.

We also took a detour to drive one of the rims at The Grand Canyon—where I captured a video of a 14-point mule deer
with velvet still on his antlers, and Williams Arizona—a great Route 66 town.
And the Flamingo in Las Vegas for
the Donny and Marie Show. The
Flamingo is pet-friendly, the show was not. Donny was worth the lifelong wait. And Marie stunned me with her amazing talent. Awesome show.

When we arrived in Santa Monica, we drove onto the Santa Monica Pier, kind of by mistake—I heard clack, clack, clack and didn’t know what it was. It was starting to
get annoying. When I parked the SUV and got out, I looked down and realized we
were on the wooden pier. Awesome! While
we didn’t ride any of the rides, we did walk around people watching and taking
in the sights, sounds, and smells of the small carnival.Before we got back on the road, we took a
selfie in front of the “end of the route” sign. It’s not really the end of Route
66—but the real end is a let down. Besides, the pier is the best picture taking place, so it’s
kind of accepted as a sentimental substitute.

Next we traveled up California’s
Coast Highway—where every bend in the road had an even more scenic view
than the last—this is where my retirement plans started to reformulate. I grew up in North West Florida where the beaches are sugar-white. I've been to the east Coast and seen thier beutiful costline. But the cliffs and rocks of the West Coast beaches were stunning. I feel I need to explore them more. After we reached San Fransisco, we went inland to Petaloma
California, where we entered in the World’s
Ugliest Dog Contest—with the express intention to lose. We were successful.In
fact,Bandit was by far the cutest dog
there!

The last stop on our epic adventure, which came after visiting my Aunt
in Oregon, the car problems in Utah, and the scenic trip to Colorado by way of
Wyoming, was The Manitou Cliff Dwellings
in Manitou Springs Colorado. We met
up with a friend—who told me Kevin Bacon was in town filming—and he had been
sighted rock climbing the weekend before.While we did not encounter Mr. Bacon, we found the Manitou Cliff
Dwellings and Museum to be very pet-friendly.
Alternating weeks you will either be treated to the a Native American Flute Player—or you will meet the Wolves. The
Wolves are pet-friendly as well. I asked before we went. Bandit was allowed “anywhere
people can go.” That’s my definition of pet-friendly—I’m
glad it was theirs as well.

My friends often ask me how I hear about all the pet-friendly places I
travel to:Google.I just google “Pet
Friendly Attraction” and sometimes add a location or a date. There is almost
always some sort of Pet-Fair going on somewhere. www.BringFido.com/is also a great resource. That’s how I originally found out about Canine Camp Getaway, in Lake George New
York—which is now on our Bucket List.The entire camp experience is dog-centric.
Dog-themed Arts and Crafts, Dog classes
ranging from Obedience, to Agility, to Dog First Aide, etc. Dogs are allowed
everywhere—and with acres and acres of off-leash roaming room, campers and their
FurKids have the freedom to meet and mingle with other like-minded people and their
pets. Sounds like Heaven on Earth to this Dog-Mom.

Like I said before, my retirement plan has always centered around a
secluded cabin in Maine. But after this last trip, I now have decided when I
retire, I will sell my house, buy an RV and Bandit and Moggy (the rescue kitty
I adopted this past winter) and I will
travel until they stick us in the ground. A traveling retirement—now that’s my idea of Heaven on Earth!

This blog post is my contribution to the A to Z Blogging Challenge 2015, in which bloggers from around the
world representing every skill level and interest, blog every Monday through
Saturday during the month of April, using the letters of the alphabet as their
inspiration. Tomorrow is U,and as usual,I'm clueless as to what I might write about....

2 comments:

Visiting from A/Z :) Good for you for going traveling with Bandit. The adventures the two of you have had! I have to agree, retirement in a RV with beloved pets sounds like a great retirement. We had a corgi (lost him to cancer this past December) who always liked to go on car rides; not sure how good of a traveler he would have been for some of your adventures!

Betty-- I'm sorry to hear of the loss of your Corgi. One of my friends, Traci Borum (her debut novel "Painting The Moon" was a best seller, and the second in the series, "Finding The Rainbow" has recently been released) has an adorable Corgi. They are the funniest little herding dogs ever--always so happy and "smiling." When I first got Bandit he was not a good traveler--but we worked on it and it grew on him. Now he LOVES to hop in the SUV. :~) Thanks for stoping by!